NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC
ARTDIVISION
S ECAUSE IT'S THERE"-to
L borrow mountaineering's most
quoted phrase-Everest, the
world's highest mountain, has
transformed Nepal's Khumbu
district into a shrine. After the
kingdom opened the region in
1950, first came the climbers,
walking 175 miles from
Kathmandu. Then, aided by two
airstrips, came the trekkers-now
more than 5,000 a year, or twice
the local Sherpa population. At the
author's behest, New Zealand and
a number of world conservation
groups volunteered funds and
staff for a national park to halt
environmental decline. Last year
Nepal assumed operation of the
480-square-mile park.
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